The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.
Track of the week: ‘Across 110th Street’ by Bobby Womack (Alkalino Rework)
You know that, at one point, this track is going to give you that characteristic sound of those Bobby Womack vocals. Before any of that though, Alkalino sure builds this one up smoothly and sweetly, and even the first introduction of Womack’s vocals are sweet with a string of subdued “whoooo-oooooeeehh”s. Then you get those grated vocals so typical to Womack, saying that he isn’t saying (...) that what he did was all right. So it is confession time here, with this track having been used for the 1972 film of the same name. In the mean time, Alkalino is giving you this nice disco ride underneath all the lyrics, love the gentle guitar in there, as well as that bass that is so smoothly integrated into all the rest. Naturally, there’s a little beat going on to provide the backbones to this whole operation, but that, too, isn’t intrusive at all. It’s all smooth as all get out, even when the horns come in at about four minutes in. The chorus gets a bit more pace with both how Womack sings as well as because of the extra strings, and around the five minute mark Alkalino starts working the dramatics with plenty of sounds to give you some extra oomph, just to slide you back into that soft disco of before a little bit later. Lovely smooth ride with a blast from the past with the title song to that 1972 crime film. Soundcloud seems to not be working for this one so see the Media section below for the bandcamp version.
‘Night Flight’ by Midnight Magic
I really like Midnight Magic, the New York disco collective which released an album a few years ago that included some ace singles like ‘Beam Me Up’ and ‘Drop Me a Line’, which are just disco behemoths as far as I’m concerned. Here they tone it down, take you back into the night a bit, not as all out party as the two songs I just mentioned. More the soundtrack to your stroll through the NY city streets after midnight. Love the bass they’ve got going there, which combine nicely with the brass that comes in every now and again. On vocals you’ve got Tiffany Roth, whose got a real power voice that she manages to turn into something elusive and dreamy here as she prods you to Fly, fly, fly, fly to the future. In the last minute you’ve got some double vocals going on, with Roth doing some singing over a vocal line of doob-doob-doo-oeh, which was already present in the song from the very start. They’ll be coming out with a new 5 track EP, and this single will get a bunch of remixes from the talented lads of both PillowTalk as well as No Regular Play, so it’s just the gift that keeps on giving, really.
‘Inga e som vi e, hogt over marken’ by Little Jinder & Melo (HNNY remix)
Now, I don’t know any Scandinavian language, and chances are that unless you are from one of those countries, neither do you. That’s okay, as HNNY’s remix of this track originally by Little Jinder & Melo gives you plenty of those dancefloor vibes that you won’t be thinking of what the heck they are singing. Some lovely house elements with this tinge of R&B for flavour, the percussion is very catchy, with the steady snare to provide the base here. The vocals, though I’ve got no idea what they are singing, have plenty of soul in them, so it’s a joy to listen to them anyway. And for a long stretch before the third minute mark you get plenty of opportunity to do so with the vocals being basically the only thing out there. After that you get a nice bass, and really all the dancing HNNY provides is just spot on. That guy, I just love his work (If you have never heard his edit of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ check that one out!), so smooth, and he always manages to keep plenty of flavour in there. This one, it’s a free download, so if you’re feeling like adding to your Scandinavian collection, this one is a worthwhile addition I would think.
{soundcloud}https://soundcloud.com/hnny/inga-e-som-vi-e-hogt-over-marken{/soundcloud}
‘What They Say’ Darkside
The Darkside project will go on indefinite hiatus, with the lads doing just a few more shows and then its curtains for at least a while. That’s too bad, as I loved the combination of Nicolas Jaar’s electronical wizardry and the piercing guitar of Dave Harrington. It had always seemed like such an underused combination, and these guys went into it with full force. Here, at first, the rhythm is dictated by both the electronical sounds as well as Harrington’s plucky guitar, which he, about 1:55 in, makes come out a bit more prominent, as a caged tiger waiting to burst out. You feel the slow build-up from the atmospherical start, waiting for it all to come out running. This happens at about 2:50, where they add a deeper bass sound as the base layer, a light, springy electro sound to give the perception of pace, and it rides those sounds for a while until about 4:20, when some auxiliary sounds come in to give it a little extra flavour. Near the end drawn out synth sounds and the guitar wind it all down with some extra atmosphere. I wouldn’t say this instrumental cut was their very finest track, but in terms of aesthetic you get a good idea of what the project has given us. The album is spectacular (if you get through those first five minutes of noise that is...), and live they boost the beats for the dancing and that live momentum you want to build. Glad to have seen them earlier this year when they were touring.
‘Sunsplash’ by Luke Million (Jacques Renault dub remix)
I’m a big fan of Jacques Renault, and here he comes with a dub mix for Luke Million’s track ‘Sunsplash’. Certainly the dubby beat is there, though it is the bass that will have people swaying on the dancefloor. After about fifty seconds the light piano takes over, a little later on getting combined with the bass again for the ultimate effect. At about 1:40 you get some extra synth lines in there which work well. It is a nice mixture of the beat and the bass for the lower registers, and then all the synths, pianos, whatever giving you that summer party vibe. Especially those transitions like around about 2:50 are fun, where he slides into that quicker paced piano, that’s lovely. At 3:20 he strips the higher sounds for a string of percussion which, soon enough, get that bass as a companion. He mixes that with all kinds of synth sounds, waiting for over a minute to get those piano lines back in there. It’s a lovely remix, a nice mixture of the bass to dance to and the lighter sounds to add this feeling of fun to it. Add to that some moments with a bit of extra percussion and even a piano solo, and it’s an agreeable affair to have a little dance on no doubt.
{soundcloud}https://soundcloud.com/futureclassic/luke-million-sunsplashjacques-renault-dub-remix{/soundcloud}
‘Bother’ by Les Sins
Les Sins is Toro Y Moi, and now that talented young man is gearing up to release a new album under that moniker, which you could say gives room to his more house urges. The album will be called ‘Michael’ (as in, Jackson?) and it will be out on the 4th of November, with this being the lead single. He certainly isn’t one to waste time, as this song starts right in the club. You’ve got the “crowd sounds” in the back as one guy is saying that they shouldn’t bother him, he’s working. Probably he’s working it on the dancefloor and not in the office, as with that punchy beat Toro Y Moi makes no bones about how this album will differ from his general output. He also adds plenty of percussion in there, and a little melancholic piano to give it some feeling as well. Really enjoy the transition at about 2:15, where he moves back to the main beat, that’s a nice momentum builder. At about 2:30 he turns down the house, and goes to church for a minute with some sounds that, in my mind, are accompanying who someone is descending from the heavens or something like that. Just before the end he does go back, not to the beat, but to the guy saying that he is working, to make it all go full circle. I really like this guy, seen him live, he’s awesome, so really intrigued by this project. And I do like this track, though out of the album context it does sometimes feel a bit as if he tries to cram all his house ideas into a 3:45 song. By doing that he still gives you plenty to enjoy here though, so all’s good.
